Eli was up on the counter and I opened the cupboard to ask him if he wanted anything from it. He looked, and pointed at the yellow maizena tin that we keep our tea in, so I opened it up for him. He plucked a tea bag from the tin, leans over and puts it into his plastic cup, tips it up and “drinks” from it. Cup of tea Eli? “Es, es.” Well, he does know what he wants.

Fork? Hands? Nah, I’ll just get the food straight to my mouth

Our Jeffrey’s Bay holiday now comes to an end as we travel home tonight, and the year finally starts. It’s a bit weird for the year to be starting after the first month, but here we go, let’s make the year awesome.

Eli and Grace having a ride outside the Wimpy in Jeffreys Bay

Grace got to walk with and feed elephants today. There were two highlights for her, feeding the elephants pears at the end of the tour, and when one of the elephants made a sound blowing out of its trunk. More photos and videos to follow tomorrow.

Aunty Annie bought Grace a Wet Brush, which Grace thinks is magic (it really is magic). We’ve had years of moaning about hair brushing, and suddenly – with the magic brush – everything has changed. Grace now loves brushing her hair, it has become a favourite pastime for her. She even gets out of bed at night (when she should be going to sleep) and stands next to the counter brushing her hair. It really is magic, the brush works brilliantly and does glide through the tangles for a moan free brush.

Ian was in his room and Eli came along to the door and says, “Uh, uh, uh,” so Ian says, “Hey buddy, what’s up?” and Eli just carries on going, “Uh, uh.” Ian says, “Did you just come to say ‘Hi’?” and Eli nods, lifts his hand in a wave and says, “Uh” and then cruises off, purpose fulfilled.

A babyccino tea party

The USA Drennan’s putting on their best morning look and pulling it off

We had a big family get together today and Grace and Aunty Pat went off into the bushes for some fun and silliness. The girls also had a good time playing with Aunty Anne.

At one point Aunty Pay asked Grace to call Uncle Gary, and she says, “I don’t know which one is Uncle Gary, all the boys look the same, except for dad and Uncle Ian.”

Cousin cuddles

Robyn, as always, spent a lot of time entertaining the girls and getting to know The Cousin Who Shall Not Be Named

Grace and The Cousin Who Shall Not Be Named spent a large part of today washing their new dollies – wash, rinse, dip in dirt/mud, wash, rinse, repeat.

Climbing the huge fig tree at breakfast this morning

Cousin bath time